Tinnitus Evaluations

If you are one of an estimated 30 million adults suffering from tinnitus, you know how severely this condition can impact your life. If you are experiencing ringing, humming, buzzing in one or both ears, the audiologists at Clarity Audiology & Hearing Solutions, LLC may be able to help. We conduct tinnitus evaluations for patients in Ellicott City, Baltimore, Catonsville, Columbia, Sykesville, and all of Howard, Carroll, and Baltimore County.

What to Expect During Your Tinnitus Evaluation

Evaluating tinnitus consists of a series of testing. Following an assessment of your hearing status, we use a state of the art Tinnometer to identify your tinnitus level, frequency, and tempo, and establish effective masking levels. We will reassess your tinnitus periodically to track changes. A handicap questionnaire will be administered to determine how strongly tinnitus is affecting your daily life. Following the evaluation, we will discuss coping strategies and treatment options to suit your unique situation.

Treatment Options for Tinnitus

There are a variety of treatment options available for tinnitus. The first step is to rule out any medical conditions or medications that may be a contributing factor to your tinnitus. Many tinnitus treatment options focus on helping to “retrain your brain” to habituate to the tinnitus. In fact, most individuals who experience both hearing loss and tinnitus find that their tinnitus is better when wearing hearing aids! This is because the hearing aids help introduce sounds around you in the regions where your hearing system is damaged, which provides a subsequent “masking effect” over the tinnitus in those regions. Our audiologists can also help to discuss other tinnitus coping strategies to help alleviate the difficulty tinnitus causes you in your daily life.

Hearing Aids

Tinnitus is often accompanied by hearing loss, so many patients will receive the dual benefit of improving their hearing while treating their tinnitus. By improving your hearing, hearing aidscan reduce the stress associated with listening closely, making it easier to deal with the tinnitus. Also, by amplifying other sounds in your environment, the loudness of your tinnitus is effectively masked. Studies have shown that six out of ten people experienced tinnitus relief most or all of the time while wearing hearing aids.

Other Devices

Wearable devices that resemble hearing aids are available to treat tinnitus by producing a sound that effectively masks the tinnitus. This sound can be either a whooshing, broadband noise, an easy-to-listen-to processed sound, or processed music.

There are also non-wearable sound devices that produce environmental sounds or music, such as rain or ocean sounds, or specialized sounds designed specifically for tinnitus patients.